Alex Salmond 'gave me style tips', Britain's youngest MP Mhairi Black reveals

Twenty-three-year-old says former leader of her party suggested she let then SNP MP Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh take her on a shopping trip

The Scottish politician has represented her constituency since 2015 (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

SNP MP Mhairi Black has told a magazine that Alex Salmond tried to give her some style help once she was elected to Westminster.

The Paisley and Renfrewshire South MP claimed that the former leader of the party suggested that she let then SNP MP Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh take her on a shopping trip.

Ms Black, who was first elected to Parliament at the age of 20 in 2015, told Holyrood magazine of a sit-down she had with former Scottish first minister Alex Salmond following her election.

She said: "It was fine, really, he was just giving me tips here and there and then he says, 'I'm sure Taz will take you out to go shopping or something at some point and you'll find your own style'.

"He then said that the last time he'd had this conversation it was with a young woman called Nicola Sturgeon.

"I thought, 'oh, very good' and I just left the awkward silence hanging when he asked me if I wanted him to arrange it with Taz. I'm like, 'I am never going to be told how to dress, especially by a man."'

Ms Black also revealed she has not had what the magazine described as a real one-on-one conversation with Ms Sturgeon, the current SNP leader and First Minister, and she called for the party to do more to support newly-elected politicians.

The MP told Holyrood editor Mandy Rhodes she hopes future candidates entering Parliament have a different experience from the one she had.

She said: "There should be more care ... there you go. I know I'm doing that thing again, where I'm maybe minimising it because it's myself I'm talking about and I don't want to make out I was really needy or anything but I think that's an area where the party does need a kick up the backside, especially given the kind of caring ethos that we like to preach in the party."

The interview with Holyrood magazine is expected to be published in full on Monday.

PA